Stratford votes to name school after Soto

Daniel Tepfer

Updated 10:35 am, Tuesday, January 15, 2013

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The Stratford Town Council will be taking up a resolution to name a new school after slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto on Monday night. Soto threw herself in front of her first grade students at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, Conn. on Friday, Dec. 14, 2012. She was killed in the mass shooting with twenty-six people including 20 children Photo: Instagram Source

The Stratford Town Council will be taking up a resolution to name a new school after slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto on Monday night. Soto threw herself in front of her first grade

Jillian Soto, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, was happy that a school would be named in honor of her sister, at the Town Council meeting in Stratford on Monday, January 14, 2013. The school, to be named Victoria Soto School, will be on the campus of Stratford Academy.

Jillian Soto, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, was happy that a school would be named in honor of her sister, at the Town Council meeting in Stratford on Monday, January 14,

Andre Bryant, of Stratford, wears two Victoris Soto pins to the Stratford Town Council meeting that named a school in her honor, at Town Hall in Stratford on Monday, January 14, 2013. The school, to be named Victoria Soto School, will be on the campus of Stratford Academy.

Andre Bryant, of Stratford, wears two Victoris Soto pins to the Stratford Town Council meeting that named a school in her honor, at Town Hall in Stratford on Monday, January 14, 2013. The school, to be named

Jillian Soto, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, breaks into a smile during the announcement in the Stratford Town Council meeting that a school wil be named in her sister's honor, at Town Hall in Stratford on Monday, January 14, 2013. The school, to be named Victoria Soto School, will be on the campus of Stratford Academy.

Jillian Soto, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, breaks into a smile during the announcement in the Stratford Town Council meeting that a school wil be named in her sister's

Jillian Soto, right, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, applauds following the announcement in the Stratford Town Council meeting that a school wil be named in her sister's honor, at Town Hall in Stratford on Monday, January 14, 2013. The school, to be named Victoria Soto School, will be on the campus of Stratford Academy.

Jillian Soto, right, sister of slain Sandy Hook Elementary School teacher Victoria Soto, applauds following the announcement in the Stratford Town Council meeting that a school wil be named in her sister's

A month after the massacre that killed 20 children and six staff members at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, the Town Council voted unanimously Monday night to name a new elementary school after Soto, the young teacher who shielded students with her own body Dec. 14.

The town will break ground on the new school this summer.

"I feel really happy tonight," said Soto's younger sister, Jillian, 24, as she was surrounded by media outside the council chambers following the vote. "My sister's name will stay alive. There will be a school named after her. She was my hero, my big sister, and it doesn't surprise me what she did."

Soto said her sister was a big part of their family and she still finds it hard to believe "Vicki" is gone.

"I still think she is going to come home, and I have to remind myself that's not going to happen," Soto said of her sibling, who was 27 years old. "But this is good, and we have a very supportive family."

The youngest of the adults killed, Soto referred to her first-grade class as her "16 angels." She is credited with shielding their bodies with her own.

Although there have been calls nationally for memorials to honor the Sandy Hook victims, Stratford wanted to do something special to honor Soto, a lifelong resident of town.

But while the resolution to name a new school after Soto was considered a "no-brainer" by most in town, the gesture quickly became embroiled in controversy.

Shortly after the meeting began with a silent prayer for Soto and the other Sandy Hook victims, Councilwoman Stephanie Phillips tried to introduce a resolution demanding that U.S. leaders take action to reduce gun violence.

The last-minute resolution drew immediate criticism from the other council members, who accused Phillips of trying to foist her own agenda on Soto's memory.

After that debate settled, and Councilman Matthew Catalano read the resolution naming the school for Soto, the council became stuck on exactly what the school's name would be.

Some council members thought the word "academy" should be part of the name because the school will be on the property of the Stratford Academy schools.